


Time Crash

by SuperTempsRUs (JaskiersWolf)



Series: Ripples Through Time [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Minisode: Time Crash, Telepathic Bond, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24587659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaskiersWolf/pseuds/SuperTempsRUs
Summary: Basically a rewrite of the Minisode: Time Crash. Follows on from my Ripples Through Time AU, but I've included a small summary so you don't have to read it first.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Donna Noble
Series: Ripples Through Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777279
Comments: 13
Kudos: 54





	Time Crash

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to my RTT AU! 
> 
> Now it helps if you’ve read RTT but if not I’ll give you the key points that you need to know. In case you don’t fancy reading 185k of background for this little one-shot!
> 
> Brief summary:
> 
> Donna agreed to travel with the Doctor after Runaway Bride. Without the year apart and the agreement they would only ever remain friends, they developed feelings for each other. They accidentally created a telepathic link between them which caused Donna some concerns that she wasn’t completely human anymore but they kept the link and grew to treasure it. After a living as a married couple for a few months whilst the Doctor was human they both realised they didn’t want to stay friends anymore and that they were in love with each other. 
> 
> After a few months of dating Donna finally managed to get the Doctor to agree to go to Morocco (her honeymoon destination) for a holiday, but unfortunately the Doctor is a magnet for trouble and they got into a fight with some nasty aliens. Donna was grievously injured and the Doctor had to give her a blood transfusion to save her life. The catch was it was his blood and the Time Lord blood has caused some interesting side-effects (mostly heightened senses and an increase in her telepathic abilities). The Doctor is hiding this from her because he’s afraid of what she would think. 
> 
> Following their run in with the Master, in which Donna was killed during the year that never was, they get married (Time Lord style) as they both realised they were completely serious about their relationship and wanted to secure their telepathic link into a bond that would work even over a distance. 
> 
> This story begins just after they’ve dropped Martha back at home with her family and our two lovebirds are relaxing in the Tardis console room.

“Where to then, Spaceman?” Donna asked the Doctor with a smirk.

“Anywhere we like!” He grinned and together they pushed down on the lever that would send them spiralling into the vortex.

But as soon as the lever had been pushed, the alarms started ringing.

“What?” He asked as he looked around the ship.

“Doctor, what’s going on?” Donna asked, looking as confused as he felt.

“Ah, stop it!” He yelled to his ship as he spun round to check the monitors. “What was all that about, eh? Eh? What's your problem?”

“Doctor.” Donna snapped and he looked up to meet her gaze. She was staring pointedly across the console.

“Ooh.” He replied as he spotted what she was looking at, or rather who. “Oh I see.”

“Right, just settle down now.” A man in a beige cricket outfit muttered to himself, seemingly oblivious to the sudden new arrivals in his Tardis.

“Spaceman, that’s…”

“I know.” He nodded.

“But that’s.”

“Yup.” He agreed.

“That’s you!” Donna shouted out.

His younger self finally looked up at the sound of her voice. His head throbbed as their eyes met and he was hit by a memory that he’d forgotten about completely, memories were always funny when he ran into himself but he’d been here before. He’d seen this, although strangely he had no memory of seeing Donna. He’d definitely been alone before.

“Who are you?” His younger self glared up at him.

“Oh this is brilliant!” He grinned between his wife and his younger self. “This is just brilliant!”

“I’m the Doctor. Who are you?” The younger him said, obviously, and quite rightly, confused by the situation. He still hadn’t noticed the change in scenery by the looks at. Had he really been that unobservant or were the timelines just taking longer to settle for the earlier version of himself.

Donna was barely stifling her giggles behind her hand as she looked between the two versions of himself.

 _This is flipping fantastic!_ She sang gleefully in his mind. _He’s older than I expected._

 _Oi. Watch it. That’s still me._ He shot back.

 _Yes. Yes. And I love you dearly. Tart._ She patted his arm and gazed up at him fondly.

He looked down at the younger version of himself. He did look older then he remembered. His Tardis was probably compensating to try and keep the timelines in order. Poor old girl was only just recovering from the paradox sickness and now this? He’d have to take her to Calibris for additional maintenance. She deserved the treat.

“Have the Tardis translation circuits broken again or are you just an idiot?” His Fifth self looked up at him with clear disdain. “I’m the Doctor. Who are you?” He repeated more slowly.

He grinned and nudged Donna as she spun round to hide her laughter. _Stop it!_ He hissed at his wife. _You’re embarrassing me._

“Oi!” She snapped. “I’m not the one not answering the questions here, Spaceman.”

“Interesting. Telepathy. What species are you?” His younger self peered at Donna with curiosity shining in his eyes.

“Well, Doctor, can I call you Doctor? The Doctor. Hah! Oh it’s brilliant.” He laughed at the frown that appeared on the other Time Lord’s face, or was it his face? He was never quite sure how to think of himself in times like this.

“Focus, Spaceman.” Donna sighed.

“Yes! Right. Human. She’s human.” He said as he ran his hands through his hair. _Mostly._ He added to Donna in his head.

Donna’s eyes flared like fire as she met his gaze. _Mostly human?_

 _Increased exposure to the time vortex, love, remember?_ He lied, shutting down any memories of Morocco and locking them away tightly. It was harder to do since the wedding but that was one memory he wasn’t ready to share just yet.

“Hmm.” Donna narrowed her eyes at him. “Human. Donna Noble. Hello.” She gave his younger self a little wave.

“Human? Must be from the 51st Century. I heard they were getting better at that. Nice to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to fix my…” He went to move around them to the other side of the Tardis.

“21st Century actually.” Donna snapped. “I’m just that good.

The younger Doctor frowned.

“Oh, there it goes, the frowny face.” The Doctor replied with a laugh, rolling onto the balls of his feet and then back onto his heels as he examined the younger man before him. “I remember that one. Mind you, bit saggier than I ought to be. Hair's a bit greyer. That's because of me, though. The two of us together has shorted out the time differential. Should all snap back in place when we get you home. Be able to close that coat again. But never mind that. Look at you! The coat, the crickety cricket stuff, the stick of celery. Yeah. Brave choice, celery, but fair play to you. Not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable.” He rambled on excitedly.

He hadn’t run into himself for a while and there was always a fantastic sense of nostalgia. Especially when it was younger versions. He enjoyed the feeling of knowing more than himself. It was always good to be the smartest in the room.

“Dearest. Honey Pie. Dear Heart” Donna sang sweetly and he trailed off with a dopey grin on his face as he turned back to face his wife. “Shut up.”

He pouted but didn’t have a chance to respond.

“Oh no.” His younger self groaned and pulled of his hat wearily. “No no no. Honeymooners. That’s all I need. Look, there is something very wrong with my Tardis, and I've got to do something about it very, very quickly, and it would help, it really would help if there wasn't some skinny idiot ranting in my face about every single think that happens to be in front of him!”

Donna laughed brightly. “Oh I like him! Can we keep him?” She teased.

“Would you two just shut up?” The younger Doctor snapped.

The Doctor schooled his face into a neutral expression, feeling like he’d been told off my the headmaster at school, a feeling he was very familiar with. He caught Donna’s eye which was a mistake. He could feel her amusement rippling through their bond and almost immediately the pair of them started laughing. They were met with an exasperated glare from the cricket loving Doctor. The Doctor sniffed and tried to wipe the grin off of his face.

“Right yes. Sorry, Doctor.” He nodded sombrely and tried to keep a straight face.

“Sorry. Doctor.” Donna echoed mirthfully.

 _You never apologise to me._ He teased his wife gently.

 _What are you five?_ She rolled her eyes at him.

 _No, he’s five. I’m ten._ He smirked.

“Very funny.” She muttered sarcastically under her breath.

The Fifth Doctor turned around to look at something on the console and the Doctor felt a rush of excitement.

“Oh, the back of my head!” He stood up on his toes to get a better look. Donna whacked his arm.

“Spaceman!” She hissed.

“Oh come on, Donna! When do you ever get to see the back of your own head?” He asked his wife with a wink before turning back to the balding head in front of him. Balding. He suppressed a shudder. “Mind you, I can see why you wear a hat. I don't want to seem vain, but could you keep that on?”

“Tart.” Donna muttered but the grin on her face told him she was teasing.

_Only for you._

He winked and strolled around to meet her on the other side of the Tardis. The timelines were starting to make his head pound and he could feel her own echo of a headache through the bond. Any minute now the Tardis alarms would start ringing again and his counterpart would finally realise where he was and who he was talking to. If he was remembering correctly that is? He still had no recollection of Donna being here. Maybe they slipped a time track or something similar or it was the Tardis preserving their first meeting. He’d had no idea who Donna was when she’d first appeared in the Tardis but his Donna had already introduced herself to the younger Doctor.

His poor Tardis was working overtime.

The younger Doctor suddenly whirled round to face the pair of them with fire in his eyes. “What have you done to my Tardis? You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you. What's this one, coral?”

“Well…” He answered with a shrug. Technically yes he’d changed the desktop but this was his Tardis, although that technically meant it was also the other Time Lord’s Tardis.

“It's worse than the leopard skin.” The other Doctor grumbled and pulled out a pair of half-moon glasses.

“Oh my god. He’s got them too!” Donna cried gleefully. “Brainy specs! I can’t believe it.”

“Yes thank you, Donna.” He squeezed her hand. He tried to sound miffed but really he was just as excited and she knew it.

“You know, you’re not fooling anyone Space Boy Five. We know you don’t need those. You just want to look clever, but honestly if you really wanted to look smart you’d ditch the cricket gear and the vegetable. Seriously though, celery? I mean this one.” She tilted her head in his direction and he smiled back at her fondly. “might only have two suits but at least he looks smart.”

“Why Donna Noble, was that a compliment?” He teased.

“Don’t get used to it.” She rolled her eyes with a grin and pranced over to his younger self to get a better look.

An alarm rang in the console room, right on cue. Their time with his younger self was almost up. It was never quite long enough but he’d be glad to get rid of the headache. It was like being with Jack all over again, only ten times worse.

“That's an alert, level five, indicating a temporal collision.” The Fifth Doctor rushed around the console dramatically, unbelievably still not realising who he was. Had he really been that unobservant? He casually leaned against the console and glanced at the monitor. The readings weren’t good but he knew how to fix it so he wasn’t worried. He’d done it before after all. He felt a spike of fear from Donna but he let his calmness wash through the bond with his own memory of this encounter. Her shoulders relaxed and she tilted her head with a smile as she turned to watch his younger counterpart.

“It like two Tardises have merged, but there's definitely only one Tardis present. It's like two time zones or more at the heart of the Tardis. That's a paradox that could blow a hole in the space time continuum the size of.” The Doctor smirked and pushed the monitor towards the greying blond, trying desperately to get him to understand the situation but he remained oblivious. “Well, actually, the exact size of Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? Belgium?”

 _Sonic?_ Donna suggested.

 _Could work._ He replied and pulled his trusty device from his jacket pocket, waving in front of the younger Doctor’s face nonchalantly.

“Need this?” He asked, keeping a straight face whilst Donna hid her own laughs behind her hair.

“No, I’m fine.” The Fifth Doctor replied, barely even looking at the sonic device in front of him, preferring to focus on the readings of the screen.

He rolled his eyes. He really should have seen that coming, considering that he’d already lived through this entire encounter before, but his memory was patchy in places due to the paradox that had been caused and he had no idea how Donna’s presence was going to affect the timeline here. As long as he managed to fix everything in time it shouldn’t be a problem. He wondered whether there was another time stream, or parallel universe in which he remembered Donna when he first met her as his current self.

He turned his attention back to the cricket loving Doctor. “Oh no, of course, you liked to go hands free, didn't you,” He tossed the sonic screwdriver and tucked it back into his jacket pocket, “like hey, I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string. And look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable.”

“It’s not even a good vegetable.” Donna added with a disappointed shake of her head.

He flashed her a toothy grin and then turned back to his younger self. “It’s not even a good vegetable. Now if you’d chosen a banana I might have understood.”

“Not a vegetable.” Donna pointed out. _And if you start wearing a banana then I’m moving back to my own room._

_You wouldn’t._

_You’re cute but not enough to wear a banana on your suit._ She smirked.

_Another compliment, Donna Noble. Are you sick?_

“Oh haha.” She rolled her eyes and swatted his arms but he felt a warm wave of adoration and love through the bond.

“Just who are you two?” The Fifth Doctor said with a groan of exasperation as he stood up away from the Tardis console.

He grinned and peered down at his younger self, shuffling on his feet with excited energy as he leant on the monitor.

“Take a look.”

The Fifth Doctor stared up at him for a moment, scrutinising every detail in his face. He would have been offended if it wasn’t for the fact that in a few regenerations this man would be wearing his face. “Oh. Oh no.”

“Oh yes!” He grinned knowing that his younger self was about to finally cottoned on to the truth. He always loved this bit when he was the older of the two Doctors. He liked knowing things before other people.

“You’re. Oh no.” The Fifth Doctor groaned and took a step back.

“Bit rude.” Donna mused. “Bit skinny but you’ll get used to it, Celery Boy.”

“Here it comes!” He chuckled, ready for the penny to drop. Oh he could almost hear it! “Yeah, I am.”

“A fan!” His younger self said with a look of pure horror.

It was such an unbelievable statement that it took his big old Time Lord brain a moment to catch up. “Yeah.” His smile dropped. “Wait what?!”

“Oh my god!” Donna giggled in sheer delight. “That’s bloody brilliant!”

The Fifth Doctor spun away and focussed back on the Tardis console, spinning dials and levers to try and settle the Tardis alarm that had started to ring out just like he remembered. “This is bad. One minute to Belgium.”

One minute?

Oh no.

He could have sworn he was supposed to have two minutes from this point. Donna must have delayed their conversation. He glared up at the ceiling.

_A bit more warning would have been nice, old girl._

The Tardis just grumbled and flickered the lights. He felt a thrum of energy pulse through his veins and he was suddenly aware of the strain this was putting on his old ship, so soon after her sickness from her time with the Master.

 _I’ll help._ Donna reminded him with a pat on his arm.

“Look, Dumbo. He’s you from the future. This is his Tardis, not yours, that’s why the scanner said there’s only one Tardis here. Same software, different face. One Doctor, One Tardis.” Donna snapped at his younger self.

“And one Donna Noble.” He grinned.

“The one and only.” She trilled happily.

“You’re that LINDA lot aren’t you?” The Fifth Doctor groaned. “That’s how you know so much.”

Donna rolled her eyes and stroked her fingers down the edge of the console. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” She cooed. “Can you give us an extra boost?”

The Tardis groaned and the lights dimmed, the temperature of the room dropped suddenly as the heating went off and the whole room began to shake as the Tardis destabilised within the vortex, but to his amazement the countdown flickered back up to three minutes.

“Thanks, love.” Donna sang and fixed the younger Doctor with a fierce glare. “Listen up, Space Boy.”

The Fifth Doctor bristled at the name but for once in all his lifetimes had the sense to stay quiet.

“Not LINDA. I don’t even know who or what that means.” She put her hands on her hips.

It was not the time to appreciate her beauty but he couldn’t help but notice the way the fading light of the Tardis bounced beautifully off her hair. Her nose was flushed red from the sudden cold air around them and his eyes were drawn to her lips as small clouds of condensation blew from her lips as she spoke.

 _Focus, dear heart._ She hummed mentally at him and he smiled sheepishly. He’d almost forgotten she could follow his thoughts from a distance now.

“He’s very much you, Space Boy. I’ve seen you before. I know your face. He has pictures of all his past selves and his companions in the library.” Donna explained. “Before you was crazy hair and scarf, then it was fluffy white hair with the yellow car.”

“Bessie.” The Fifth Doctor grumbled. “That still doesn’t mean anything.”

Donna sighed and whispered his name quietly into the room.

It was the first time he’d heard her say it out loud and his hearts danced in his chest. Her pronunciation wasn’t completely accurate but they had plenty of time to work on that, even longer with the Time Lord blood that now flowed through her veins.

 _My Bella Donna._ He whispered adoringly through the bond. _My wife._

She flashed him a fond smile and he felt his face light up.

The Fifth Doctor in comparison was spluttering, flushed red and wide-eyed.

“How?” He managed to get out.

 _Two Minutes_. The Tardis hummed wearily. Donna looked up to the ceiling, so he knew she’d heard it too.

“Listen to me.” He said loudly with a wave of his hands, drawing the younger Doctor’s attention away from his wife. He wasn’t entirely sure what repercussions it would have if the Doctor realised he would one day be married to Donna Noble. It was far too complicated and he really didn’t want to mess around with his own timeline too much. “I'm you, I'm you. I'm you with a new face.” He gestured wildly to his face and then slapped his cheeks, earning a mirthful laugh from the gorgeous ginger beside him. “Check out this bone structure, Doctor, because one day you're going to be shaving it.”

The cloister bell rang as it had in his original memories of the countdown. Donna’s quick thinking seemed to have restored the timeline pretty much back to where it was. The additional two minutes were a welcome extension to their time together and had probably saved a Belgium sized chunk of the space time continuum.

The Fifth Doctor seemed to snap out of his Donna Noble induced confusion at the sound of the bell and they were back on track. “The cloister bell!” He announced.

 _Thank you, Doctor Obvious._ Donna hummed thoughtfully.

“Right on time. That's my cue.” He dashed around the console flipping the right levers.

Opposite him the Fifth Doctor was doing the same. He felt giddy with excitement. It wasn’t very often that he got to drive the Tardis with more than one pilot, well, less rare now with Donna by his side but still, he was happy to have the company, even if the company was himself.

His fingers moved too fast for his brain and he missed out a vital lever, but Donna, his clever, wonderful Donna, was there to catch the mistake. She casually danced between the two men and pushed the missing lever at exactly the right moment. He wasn’t sure if it was her Time Lord blood kicking in or the Tardis guiding her. The greying blond, thankfully didn’t catch the moment. That would have raised too many questions and too many spoilers.

 _Thank you, Bella Donna._ He said quickly, the words falling out in Gallifreyan in his mind as his brain was too focussed on fixing his Tardis to translate.

 _Anytime, Spaceman._ She answered smugly back in Gallifreyan. _Try not to blow us up._ She added in English.

“In a minute we're going to create a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!” The Fifth Doctor explained to them both, clearly still not believing their claims about who he was but he didn’t have time to argue anymore. He’d have to show the younger Doctor through actions not words.

“Yeah, that's my fault, actually. I was rebuilding the Tardis,” He said apologetically.

Donna scoffed. “We were rebuilding the Tardis.” She interrupted with a glare. “Well, I helped, at least.”

“And” He cut Donna off with his own glare. “I forgot to put the shields back up. Your Tardis and my Tardis, well, the same Tardis at different points in its own time stream collided and whoo, there you go, end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out. Watch.” He reassured the other Doctor who was suddenly looking around the console room as if he were seeing it for the first time.

Donna obviously noticed too. _Finally!_

 _He’s young, cut him some slack._ The Doctor chuckled mentally at his own joke. Get that dial for me. He nodded with his head.

She stroked his cheek as they crossed paths circling the Tardis console and spun the dial slowly as he had asked.

“Venting the thermobuffer, drawing the Helmic regulator, and just to finish off,” He rambled as he dashed around the console typing in the relevant commands into the Tardis controls at a speed that even Donna would be impressed with with her super temp skills. “let's fry those Zeiton crystals.” He continued to his younger self.

The Fifth Doctor put a hand out to try and stop him, just like he remembered he would because he had done the same thing when a crazy skinny man in a suit had tried to take over his Tardis. Oh how the memories were coming back now, clearer than day, although still missing a certain ginger.

“No, I won’t.” He reassured himself. “I haven’t.”

“Who told you that?” The younger Doctor almost shouted with a frown. He was growing more frustrated with every second that passed. It was almost funny to see from the other perspective. Had he really been that frowny? Was he that frowny now?

 _Yes._ Donna replied with a grin.

 _Rhetorical question._ He huffed back at her.

“You told him that, Celery Boy.” Donna said as she gripped onto the Tardis console. The room was beginning to shake. The temperature was rising quickly, too quickly.

 _Come on, old girl!_ He cheered.

The lights flickered and he was zapped with a small spark of electricity from the console. He shook his hand and focussed his energy back into the console.

Donna growled his name in his mind when she realised what he was doing.

 _She needs help, Bella Donna._ He explained as he hand glowed a vibrant orange. The Tardis had turned off some of her key systems to stabilise the space time continuum to give them more time to fix it for good and this was the price he’d pay for that.

The regeneration energy fed back into the console and the engines stuttered as the world turned white around them, but the temperature stabled and he closed his eyes to shut out the blinding light. Donna wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. He felt the man next to him stiffen next to him as they were blinded by the supernova around them.

Not a moment too soon, his vision darkened behind his eyelids and he was able to look around his Tardis. He let out a sigh of relief and ran his hands through his hair. It was all in one piece and no need to renovate the old room just yet. He loved his old coral Tardis design. He didn’t want to change it whilst the Tardis fixed it up.

Donna relaxed next to him.

“We did it.” She breathed in awe and the three of them leant against the Tardis console as the adrenaline rush began to float away.

 _You knew we would._ He reminded her. She’d seen his memories after all.

“Bit different seeing it in reality.” She pointed out.

“Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant.” The younger Doctor said, studying his face intently, still all frowns and suspicion.

“The explosion cancels out the implosion.” He continued with ease, following his younger self’s train of thought. They did have the same brain after all.

“Pressure remains constant” The blond finished off.

He grinned a toothy smile at his younger self. “That’s brilliant!”

The younger Doctor’s face turned to thunder as he thought about the events that had happened in the last few minutes in the Tardis. “Far too brilliant. I've never met anyone else who could fly the Tardis like that.”

Donna pushed off the Tardis and strolled around to sit in one of the stools. He could feel her amusement bubbling through their bond but her face portrayed only exasperation as she rolled her eyes. “Sorry, mate, you still haven’t.”

 _Donna._ He chided gently as he moved away from the Fifth Doctor, around the console and back towards Donna.

Her only response was to roll her eyes again and raise her eyebrows at the pair of them.

The younger Doctor scurried after him. He words were quick paced and angry, anger born from frustration that he knew only too well. “You didn't have time to work all that out. Even I couldn't do it.”

“I didn't work it out.” He turned to face himself square on, hoping the younger man would finally see the depths to his eyes, their shared history and the hundreds of years that the other man still had to live. “I didn't have to.”

“Come on, Doctor. You know he’s telling the truth.” Donna said encouragingly. “You’ve always known deep down.” She tilted her head as the younger man’s eyes flashed over to her and then back to him.

“You remembered.” He breathed in a hushed voice.

“Because you will remember.” He nodded his head and relief flooded through him.

 _Are you always this difficult when you run into yourself?_ Donna giggled in his head. _Mighty Time Lord, always the smartest in the room. Can’t even recognise himself._

 _Oi!_ He turned to scowl at her but when he saw the sheer joy on her face, he just didn’t have the heart, or hearts. God she was so beautiful when she smiled like that, like a radiant angel sent from the heavens.

Donna flushed brightly and mumbled unintelligibly under her breath, but he could feel the warmth in her heart from his praise.

“You remembered being me watching you doing that. You already knew what to do because I saw you do it.” The Fifth Doctor continued, either not noticing their conversation or ignoring it.

“Wibbly wobbly” He grinned with a shake of his head.

“Timey wimey!” They said together and then laughed.

“Oh and now there’s two of him, Wizard!” Donna drawled. “What have I married into?”

“What?” The Fifth Doctor spun to turn all his attention to Donna.

“Donna.” He growled. “Careful.”

“Have your memories changed?” She asked innocently with a quirk of her eyebrow.

He thought about it and was surprised to find that they hadn’t.

“Well, no.” He admitted.

“Then it’s fine. It’s doesn’t matter what I say. I was never here.” She grinned.

“The Tardis is protecting our time stream.” The Fifth Doctor suggested. “Married?”

He ran his hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck. “Umm, well. Yes. Doctor, meet Donna Noble. The wife.”

“She knew our name.” His younger self remembered.

“That’s right, Space Boy.” She grinned and pushed off the stool to come stand between them. Her fingers seamlessly entwined with his own and he brought her hand up to his lips.

“But I won’t remember this.” The Fifth Doctor pondered. “Not all of it at any rate.”

“No.” He answered with a shake of his head. “But it’s all to come for you, Doctor.”

The Tardis whined in the back of his mind and he felt the ground shake minutely under his feet.

“Doctor.” Donna said and gripped his hand tighter, showing she’d felt it too, which as a human she really shouldn’t have. It was the time streams separating not the physical ground. A wave of guilt flooded through him. She would hate him when she realised what he had done to her.

 _Spaceman?_ She questioned and he could feel the prickle of her curiosity at his guilt but the box that held his memories from Morocco was still locked tight. He threw another chain around it though, just to be sure.

“Right, Tardises are separating.” He changed the subject quickly, ignoring the zap of annoyance from Donna as he expertly dodged her question. She crossed her arms and he felt her whole body tense next to him. She dropped his hand like he’d burnt her and he felt another wave of guilt which he shoved back into its box quicker than you could say Raxacoricofallapatorius. He raced around the Tardis console, trying to stabilise his Tardis as the two of them separated. It wouldn’t do to rip even a Tardis shaped hole in the fabric of space time. “Sorry, Doctor, time's up. Back to long ago. Where are you now? Nyssa and Tegan? Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats and the Master? Oh, he just showed up again, same as ever.”

The other Doctor glanced down at their hands and raised an eyebrow but didn’t mention it any further, after all who knew him better than himself. He was purposely rambling on about nothing and everyone in the room knew it. Thankfully, the Fifth Doctor played ball.

“Oh no, really?” He asked with a weary groan, not even skipping a beat. “Does he still have that rubbish beard?”

“No, no beard this time.” He scratched his face. “Well, a wife.” He added.

Donna barked a laugh at that but quickly covered her mouth with her hand and continued to glare at him. He could feel her fury burning through the bond, in fact, it was all he could feel. She’d managed to shut out her thoughts from him and she had, as much as they could, severed the connection between their minds. He was impressed by the skill it would have taken to do that, especially so soon after their marriage. He’d have to apologise quickly though. Cutting off the bond so soon after its birth could damage it irreparably.

The younger Doctor began to fade from the Tardis, revealing the coral walls behind him. The Fifth Doctor looked around, and he knew that the younger man was starting to see flashes of his own brilliant white Tardis.

“Oh, I seem to be off. What can I say?” He voice beginning to echo as he fading in and out of the room. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Thank you.” He replied with a sombre nod. He always hated this bit, the goodbyes. He always seemed to be saying goodbye, even to himself. Nothing ever stayed the same, not in his so long life.

“I'm very welcome.” The Fifth Doctor’s words barely audible through the distortions of time and space, and then he was gone.

The Doctor felt his hearts ache. He wasn’t ready. It wasn’t enough, it was never enough.

Donna coughed quietly and nodded to the hat that was resting on the console. She had a small smile on her face and he heard a quiet trickle of her thoughts at the back of his mind.

He grinned at her and quickly moved to flick a switch before it was too late and his younger self was gone for good. The Fifth Doctor popped back up with a calm and patient smile on his face, like he’d expected to be brought back.

“You know, I love being you.” He passed the younger Doctor his hat with a blinding smile. “Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young.” Donna huffed a laugh at that and he gave her a fond smile before turning his attention back to the younger man. “And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing. I got that from you.”

“Yeah. Thanks for that.” Donna muttered sarcastically but her eyes were twinkling mischievously as she smiled brightly at her two Doctors.

“Oh!” He cried as he remembered and flung his leg up onto the console, revealing his red converse. “and the trainers, and” He pulled his glasses from his pocket and slid them onto his nose. “Snap. Because you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor.”

“To days to come.” The Fifth Doctor said with a tilt of his hat.

He smiled giddily at the younger Time Lord. “All my love to long ago.”

It wasn’t a proper goodbye but it was enough. He could let go now. The other Doctor vanished and he smiled at the warm feeling of nostalgia that had settled in his chest, thinking of the adventures he would have and all the different faces and personalities that were yet to come. It was all in the past for him and yet all in the future too.

Donna placed her hand on his arm. He could still feel her bristling anger but she was doing her best to move past it. He knew he would have to tell her soon. Otherwise it was going to drive them apart and neither of them would handle that well, not after the Time Lord wedding.

“Oh, Doctor,” His younger self’s voice echoed around the room but he didn’t fade back into view. “remember to put your shields up.”

Shields.

He remembered being in his old white Tardis and reminding himself about the shields through the intercom. He moved to hit the right button but he was too late.

The room shook and the sound of a on Earth ship’s horn bellowed in the room. Donna screeched as she fell backwards onto the console and her feet slipped on the floor. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down with her. They tumbled to the floor together as a hideous groaning of metal crunching and breaking ripped through the room.

Even through the dust and debris they could see the source of the terrible noise. on the opposite side of the Tardis was a gigantic hole and what looked like the bow of a ship.

“Flipping hell!” Donna groaned and she gripped onto his arm tightly. “But that’s a boat!”

“What?” He stammered.

“How can that be a boat?” Donna asked. “We’re in space!”

“What!” He spluttered again, his brain still trying to process what had happened as the dust settled onto the floor.

“We are in space right?” Donna asked.

He didn’t answer. He’d spotted something strangely familiar in the rubble of his poor ship. It looked like a life belt but that was impossible. It couldn’t be. They were in space! He was pretty sure they were still in the vortex, unless his other self had knocked them out into space when they collided.

He crawled forward to pick up the life belt and flipped it over. His hearts sunk as he read the name and he looked between the boat and the life belt disbelievingly. Donna panted as she crawled up next to him, her hands covering his as she read the name.

“TITANTIC!?” She shrieked. “Oh you have got to be kidding me!”

They shared a horrified look and the Doctor felt the cool tickle of dread creep up his spine. There was no way on Tardis that this could end well. He swallowed and looked back up at the ship.

“What?” He repeated for a third and final time, apparently it was time for an adventure. No rest for the wicked. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tada!! Hope you liked it! Any errors pls let me know and I'll fix it! There's always something that slips through! Sorry it's taken so long to get this out. I've been dabbling in writing a Witcher AU in the meantime so for any Geraskier fans out there that will be coming in the future. 
> 
> Next up in this series is a one (maybe two) shot rewrite of Voyage of the Damned. So see you there!
> 
> Yaz


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